The BBC’s Playlister ‘save it for later’ music service now lets you export tracks to iTunes

In addition to Spotify, Deezer and YouTube, BBC aficionados can now export their Playlister mixes to iTunes for purchase and audio playback.

The service, unveiled last October, allows listeners to bookmark the tracks they hear on BBC iPlayer and then quickly bring them over to their preferred music streaming service. The concept is similar to ‘save it for later’ services Pocket and Instapaper – when you stumble across a fantastic tune, Playlister is a simple way to quickly tag it. In an age where every music streaming service is trying to crack recommendations and natural discovery, it reinforces the BBC’s armada of DJs as some of the best audiophiles and music curators.

With today’s iTunes integration, the BBC will first check to see which of your saved tracks are available in Apple’s music marketplace. Applicable matches can then be opened instantaneously in its native client – you can then listen to Apple’s 30-second previews or buy all of the tracks that you want to keep.

iTunes is undoubtedly a welcome addition to the Playlister platform, but I can’t help wondering if other music services could be in the offing. Google Play Music, Rdio, Beats Music and Xbox Music, for instance, would make Playlister useful to an even broader group of music fanatics.

The new integration was announced alongside BBC Music, a new strategy that will include a heavier emphasis on Playlister, curated collections and a branded space inside iPlayer for its flagship Radio 1 station.

Nick Summers is a technology journalist for The Next Web. He writes on all sorts of topics, although he has a passion for gadgets, apps and video games in particular. You can reach him on Twitter, circle him on Google+ and connect with him on LinkedIn.